After a fine comeback, much can be expected from Viswanathan Anand when he takes on his remaining rivals, including current leader Veselin Topalov, in the Corus chess tournament in Wijk Aan Zee, The Netherlands.
After an indifferent start that fetched him just 1.5 points from the first four games, Anand scored three wins on the trot in this Category-19 tournament and is now on joint second position on 5 points after 8 rounds along with Michael Adams of England and Peter Leko of Hungary.
With five rounds still to go, Bulgarian Topalov is leading the table with 5.5 points and the next round would be crucial when he takes on the Indian ace with white pieces later in the day.
It may be recalled that Topalov, to some extent, had spoiled Anand's party in the last edition of the event with a fine victory towards the end. Even though Anand went on to win the tournament eventually, that loss must still be fresh in his mind as he had not lost on the Dutch soil for a few years prior to that.
In the rounds to come, Anand has got two white games against local star Loek Van Wely and Michael Adams. In all probability, these two games will hold the key to Anand's fortunes in the super tournament that he has already won four times.
In the remaining games, Anand will have black against Judit Polgar of Hungary and Ivan Sokolov of Netherlands.
Looking back, from fifth game onwards Anand has been simply fantastic. Starting out with a victory against Russian Alexander Morozevich, Anand defeated Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine and Cuban Lazaro Bruzon to join the leading pack and then took an easy draw with highly regarded Vladimir Kramnik of Russia to bring himself within striking distance of Topalov.
The Bulgarian also made a comeback in to the event after being almost written off following his defeat against Brit Michael Adams in round four. Topalov since then has scored 3 wins out of four matches and his victory over Bruzon was simply brilliant in the previous round.
However, there are still some tough games in store for Topalov as apart from Anand he has to play Leko and Judit Polgar in the rounds to come.
Another player who has struck form after a dubious start is Vladimir Kramnik who is now on 4.5 points along with compatriot Alexander Grischuk.
What may work to Kramnik's advantage now is the fact that he has played all strong and in-form opponents except Adams.
In the ninth round Kramnik plays against Loek Van Wely and his other opponents are Grischuk, Morozevich and Sokolov.
In the 'C' group of the event being played simultaneously, International Master norm holder Parimarjan Negi has shown brilliance but in patches. Clearly the 11-year-old Indian will have to show more consistency to remain with a chance for his second IM norm.
This section is currently led by Russian Evgeny Alekseev who has amassed 6.5 points out of a possible 8 while Negi is on joint 10th spot with 3 points.
Pairings - Round 9: Veselin Topalov (Bul) v/s Viswanathan Anand (Ind); Vladimir Kramnik (Rus) v/s Loek Van Wely (Ned); Peter Leko (Hun) v/s Nigel Short (Eng); Judit Polgar (Hun) v/s Lazaro Bruzon (Cub); Ruslan Ponomariov (ukr) v/s Michael Adams (Eng); Ivan Sokolov (Ned) v/s Alexander Morozevich (Rus); Peter Svidler (Rus) v/s Alexander Grischuk (Rus).
Standings after 8 rounds: 1. Topalov 5.5; 2-4. Leko, Adams, Anand 5 each; 5-6. Grischuk, Kramnik 4.5 each; 7-9. Bruzon, Ponomariov, Short 4 each; 10-11. Polgar, Van Wely 3.5 each; 12. Svidler 3; 13. Sokolov 2.5; 14. Morozevich 2.
Corus 'C': Standings after Round 8: 1. Evgeny Alekseev (Rus) 6.5; 2-4. Erwin L'Ami (Ned), Vladimir Georgiev (Mkd); Natalia Zhukova (Ukr) 6 each; 5. Alexey Korotylev (Rus) 5.5; 6-7. Manuel Bosboom, Tea Bosboom-Lanchava (both Ned) 4 each; 8-9. Bianca Muhren, Harmen Jonkman (Both Ned) 3.5 each; 10-11. Wouter Spoelman (Ned), Parimarjan Negi (Ind) 3 each; 12. Leon Pliester (Ned) 2; 13-14. Zeinab Mamedjarova (Aze), Joost Wempe (Ned) 1.5 each.
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